Early decision acceptance rates at 97 colleges, from their own reports

These are last year's classes, not yours

A 2025-26 Common Data Set describes the students who applied in the 2024-25 cycle and entered in fall 2025. A 2024-25 CDS describes fall 2024 entrants. A 2023-24 CDS describes fall 2023 entrants. Of the 97 rows, 87 are 2025-26, 9 are 2024-25 and 1 is 2023-24. Each row shows its year. Nobody has fall 2026 or fall 2027 ED numbers yet.

The five biggest gaps

1. Northeastern University, 6.3 times: 35.3% of ED applicants got in (1,910 of 5,404), against 5.6% of all applicants (5,920 of 105,257).
2. Tulane University, 4.0 times: 58.2% of ED applicants got in (1,209 of 2,077), against 14.5% of all applicants (4,763 of 32,942).
3. Dartmouth College, 3.6 times: 21.6% of ED applicants got in (768 of 3,552), against 6.0% of all applicants (1,699 of 28,230).
4. Barnard College, 3.3 times: 33.1% of ED applicants got in (476 of 1,437), against 10.1% of all applicants (1,048 of 10,426).
5. Williams College, 3.1 times: 26.6% of ED applicants got in (256 of 964), against 8.6% of all applicants (1,336 of 15,520).

Tufts University (3.0x), Amherst College (2.9x), Columbia University (2.8x), Northwestern University (2.7x) and University of Pennsylvania (2.7x) round out the top ten. We checked the ED counts for all ten against each college's own CDS file, and they match.

Where ED gives little or no edge

At 17 colleges the ED admit rate was lower than the overall rate:

• Bennington College: 17.3% in ED against 37.2% overall
• Whitman College: 21.0% in ED against 40.2% overall
• Spelman College: 16.0% in ED against 23.8% overall
• Rollins College: 37.5% in ED against 53.1% overall
• Case Western Reserve University: 25.0% in ED against 35.3% overall
• Lake Forest College: 38.5% in ED against 53.6% overall (only 65 ED applicants, so treat it as rough)
• Brandeis University: 35.6% in ED against 45.4% overall
• Allegheny College, University of Connecticut, Loyola Marymount University, College of Charleston, St. Lawrence University, Franklin and Marshall College, Gettysburg College, University of Denver, The College of Wooster and University of Rochester

University of Rochester's ratio rounds to 1.00 in the table, but its ED rate (41.8%) is just under its overall rate (41.9%), so it counts here.

The CDS doesn't say why. These ED pools may be smaller and more mixed, or the college may fill much of its class from strong regular applicants. Either way, don't count on ED to help at these schools.

At another 8, the two rates are within about 15% of each other: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Connecticut College, Butler University, Lewis & Clark College, Rhodes College, Miami University (Ohio), Syracuse University and Lawrence University.

Why the gap overstates your edge

ED pools are packed with students colleges already favor, especially recruited athletes and legacies. A college fills those spots in ED, so its ED admit rate looks great. If you're not in one of those groups, your real bump is smaller than the "times higher" column suggests. The CDS doesn't break this out, so nobody outside the college can tell you how much smaller.

A few smaller points:

• The overall rate includes the ED admits, so the regular-round rate at these colleges is lower than the overall rate shown, sometimes much lower.
• A college reports one ED number, which can include both ED I and ED II rounds.
• Rows marked * had fewer than 100 ED applicants (7 colleges), so one or two decisions swing the rate a lot.

What to do with this

• ED is binding. If you're admitted, you go, and you withdraw your other applications. Use it only for a college that's clearly your first choice.
• Check the money before you commit. Run the college's net price calculator with a parent. If the price doesn't work, ED is the wrong round, whatever the odds.
• Look at your fit as well as the ratio. If your scores sit below a college's middle 50%, a higher ED rate won't fix that. Our planner puts each college in reach, target or likely using its own numbers, including the ED bump where the college publishes one. Your profile stays in your browser, and you don't need an account.
• Check the testing rule. Several colleges in this table require the SAT or ACT for fall 2027. See which colleges require the SAT or ACT for fall 2027.
• Missed ED I? Many colleges here run an ED II round in January.

The full table

Sorted by how many times higher the ED rate is than the overall rate. Each college's name opens its admissions page, and the source link opens its Common Data Set. You can also download the table as a spreadsheet: ed-acceptance-rates.csv. It adds each college's total applicants, total admits and entering class. Charts and a methods note for reporters are in the press kit.

* Fewer than 100 ED applicants: treat the rate as rough. CDS file is the college's own Common Data Set file. CDS page is the college's own CDS page, which links each year's file. CDS copy is the same file in College Transitions' public CDS collection, used where we haven't linked the college's own copy.

How we built this

• Each row comes from the college's Common Data Set, sections C1 (applicants and admits) and C21 (early decision), for the CDS year shown in the table.
• ED rate is ED admitted ÷ ED applications received. Overall rate is total first-year admits ÷ total first-year applicants. Times higher is the ED rate ÷ the overall rate. The counts above (double or more, lower) use the unrounded rates.
• We dropped any row where the ED rate was over 100% or ED applicants exceeded total applicants. None of the 97 failed. We checked the ten biggest gaps, plus the two smallest (Whitman and Bennington), against the colleges' own CDS files. For Tufts and Northwestern we added back a small "unknown sex" applicant line our first pass had missed (Tufts 33,395 applicants, Northwestern 52,676). Neither rate moved more than 0.1 point.
• Columbia reports Columbia College and Columbia Engineering together.
• Northeastern University's figures come from the copy of its 2025-26 CDS in College Transitions' collection. Northeastern's own site posts its CDS only through 2024-25 (checked 9 November 2026).